£66 in October - credited and debited?? - RESOLVED

grumbler

I didn't keep an eye on all the convoluted news, but heard about some credits coming, so my apologies if it's a stupid question.

In my 'transaction history' at Outfox the Market I see

24 Oct 2022  Receipt  EBSSOct2022DD   66.00   (credit)

24 Oct 2022  Receipt  EBSS - Oct 2022 - DD  66.00 (debit)

In my Nov bill (18 Oct - 17 Nov) I see "You have been provided with the Energy Bills Support Scheme – EBSS which is a nonrepayable discount by the Government to help with rising energy bills" with £400 picture above.

This makes little sense to me, so I googled and found https://help.outfoxthemarket.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/5637320974364-Energy-Bills-Support-Scheme-FAQs

Your £400 will be paid in six instalments from October 2022. The first two discounts in October 2022 and November 2022 will be £66 and thereafter you will receive four payments of £67 from December 2022 until March 2023.

Before I waste time on calling Outfox, can anybody explain why £66 was credited and then revoked in Oct?

ETA:

If you pay by Direct Debit, you'll receive the discount automatically as a refund to your bank account 5-7 working days following a successful Direct Debit collection

Is this the answer to my question? And yes, I found £66 credited to my bank account on the same Oct 24th.

Why do they do everything so complicated?! It's a rhetoric question, don't bother to answer.

molerat

The EBS has to be seen going through your energy account, as simple as that.  Some suppliers are reducing the DD so the £66/£67 only goes into the account and some are returning the EBS to bank accounts whilst maintaining the DD amount. Same difference in the end.

[Deleted User]

Yes, you've got it - it got paid into your energy account, and then refunded from your energy account to your bank account.

There have been several people commenting in the couple of days it can take to arrive in the bank wondering where it had vanished to.

Your supplier isn't even the worst at showing what happened to the government money.

Astria

molerat said:

The EBS has to be seen going through your energy account, as simple as that.  Some suppliers are reducing the DD so the £66/£67 only goes into the account and some are returning the EBS to bank accounts whilst maintaining the DD amount. Same difference in the end.

EON have done both!

In September they reduced my DD so the £66 went into the account only.

In November, they refunded £67 to my bank account.

So my energy account has increased by £132 (2x£66), and I've had a £67 discount which doesn't match either payment.

And they wonder why people are confused!